How to handle report card issues Revisando las calificaciones

How to handle report card issues

Soon, every student in New York City from Kindergarten to 12th grade will have received a report card showing how they have done in the first trimester of the school year.

As a parent, you should review this report card and look for some key things.

First, look at your child’s grades in the major subjects. Praise your child for doing well. You want to show them how proud you are of their effort.

Second, if there is a subject where your child is not doing well, ask your child why they think they are struggling. Then go to school, and ask the teacher to show you how they calculated this grade. The teacher should be able to show you test grades and assignment grades that were used to calculate the final grade.

A teacher who cannot show you how they calculated the final grade is not doing their job. For every grade on a student’s’ report card, there should be evidence that supports that grade. It can be a teacher’s record of missed homework, grades on assignments, grades on unit tests or quizzes, and/or a record of class participation. There are lots of items a teacher can, and should, keep a record of to use as evidence to calculate the final grade.

What should never happen is a teacher stating that he determined the final grade based on “observations”. That might well be code for the fact that this teacher simply graded each student on whatever he felt like, and not based on actual evidence of student performance. If it is true that the grade was based on authentic “observations”, then there should be a record of what was observed, when it was observed, and the rubric that determined the grade given for the observed behavior. But if the teacher has no evidence to show you, then you must challenge the grade.

To challenge a grade on a student’s report card, go straight to the Assistant Principal or Principal and explain your child’s situation. They will investigate with the teacher and then make a determination. Once I had a parent challenge a grade, and when I investigated with the teacher, I found that there had been a computer error on several students’ report cards. I was grateful to the parent for raising the issue with me because I was able to correct the grades of several other students.

Never be afraid to bring questions and concerns to the Principal of your child’s school. They want to hear these concerns, because if they don’t know about them then they cannot do anything to resolve the issues.

Every principal wants to ensure their school is doing the best for its students and parents.

Dr. Vasthi Acosta is Amber Charter School (ACS)’s head of school. ACS serves 450 children, in the K-5 grades, from Northern Manhattan and The Bronx.

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